The Leatherstocking Tales | novels by Cooper | Britannica.com The Leatherstocking Tales Alternative Title: “The Leather-Stocking Tales” Related Topics The Pathfinder The Leatherstocking Tales, series of five novels by James Fenimore Cooper , published between 1823 and 1841. The novels constitute a saga of 18th-century life among Indians and white pioneers on the New York State frontier through their portrayal of the adventures of the main character, Natty Bumppo , who takes on various names throughout the series. The books cover his entire adult life, from young manhood to old age, though they were not written or published in chronological order. The individual novels are The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). The Pioneers is both the first and the finest detailed portrait of frontier life in American literature; it is also the first truly original American novel .

The main subject of the book is the conflict between two different views of the frontier—that of Natty Bumppo (here called Leather-Stocking), who sees the land as “God’s Wilderness,” and that of another main character who wants to tame and cultivate the land. The Last of the Mohicans takes the reader back to the French and Indian War . This work was succeeded by The Prairie, in which the very old and philosophical Leather-Stocking dies, facing the westering sun he has so long followed. Identified from the start with the vanishing wilderness and its native inhabitants, Leather-Stocking becomes an unalterably elegiac figure. Cooper intended to bury Leather-Stocking with The Prairie, but many years later he resuscitated the character and portrayed his early maturity in The Pathfinder and his youth in The Deerslayer. While all of The Leatherstocking Tales have been criticized as artless, some critics see The Deerslayer as the best of the five novels.

Mark Twain mocked it (and The Pathfinder) in “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences.” Learn More in these related articles: James Fenimore Cooper | American author | Britannica.com James Fenimore Cooper Herman Melville James Fenimore Cooper, (born September 15, 1789, Burlington , New Jersey , U.S.—died September 14, 1851, Cooperstown , New York ), first major American novelist, author of the novels of frontier adventure known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring the wilderness scout called Natty Bumppo, or Hawkeye. They include The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). James Fenimore Cooper. Early years Cooper’s mother, Elizabeth Fenimore, was a member of a respectable New Jersey Quaker family, and his father, William, founded a frontier settlement at the source of the Susquehanna River (now Cooperstown, New York) and served as a Federalist congressman during the administrations of George Washington and John Adams .

It was a most appropriate family background for a writer who, by the time of his death, was generally considered America’s “national novelist.” James was but a year old when William Cooper moved his family to the primitive settlement in upstate New York. He was doubtless fortunate to be the 11th of 12 children, for he was spared the worst hardships of frontier life while he was able to benefit educationally from both the rich oral traditions of his family and a material prosperity that afforded him a gentleman’s education. After private schooling in Albany, Cooper attended Yale from 1803 to 1805. Little is known of his college career other than that he was the best Latin scholar of his class and was expelled in his junior year because of a prank. Since high spirits seemed to fit him for an active life, his family allowed him to join the navy as a midshipman. But prolonged shore duty at several New York stations merely substituted naval for academic discipline . His father’s death in 1809 left him financially independent, and in 1811 he married Susan De Lancy and resigned from the navy.

For 10 years after his marriage Cooper led the active but unproductive life of a dilettante , dabbling in agriculture, politics, the American Bible Society , and the Westchester militia. It was in this amateur spirit that he wrote and published his first fiction , reputedly on a challenge from his wife. Precaution (1820) was a plodding imitation of Jane Austen ’s novels of English gentry manners. It is mainly interesting today as a document in the history of American cultural colonialism and as an example of a clumsy attempt to imitate Jane Austen’s investigation of the ironic discrepancy between illusion and reality. His second novel , The Spy (1821), was based on another British model, Sir Walter Scott ’s “Waverley” novels, stories of adventure and romance set in 17th- and 18th-century Scotland. But in The Spy Cooper broke new ground by using an American Revolutionary War setting (based partly on the experiences of his wife’s British loyalist family) and by introducing several distinctively American character types. Like Scott’s novels of Scotland, The Spy is a drama of conflicting loyalties and interests in which the action mirrors and expresses more subtle internal psychological tensions.

The Spy soon brought him international fame and a certain amount of wealth. The latter was very welcome, indeed necessary, since his father’s estate had proved less ample than had been thought, and, with the death of his elder brothers, he had found himself responsible for the debts and widows of the entire Cooper family. Novels AI Defeats All Humans at Go The first of the renowned Leatherstocking Tales , The Pioneers (1823), followed and adhered to the successful formula of The Spy, reproducing its basic thematic conflicts and utilizing family traditions once again. In The Pioneers, however, the traditions were those of William Cooper of Cooperstown, who appears as Judge Temple of Templeton, along with many other lightly disguised inhabitants of James’s boyhood village. No known prototype exists, however, for the novel’s principal character—the former wilderness scout Natty Bumppo , alias Leatherstocking. The Leatherstocking of The Pioneers is an aged man, of rough but sterling character, who ineffectually opposes “the march of progress,” namely, the agricultural frontier and its chief spokesman, Judge Temple.

Fundamentally, the conflict is between rival versions of the American Eden: the “God’s Wilderness” of Leatherstocking and the cultivated garden of Judge Temple. Since Cooper himself was deeply attracted to both ideals, he was able to create a powerful and moving story of frontier life. Indeed, The Pioneers is both the first and finest detailed portrait of frontier life in American literature; it is also the first truly original American novel. Literary Favorites: Fact or Fiction? Both Cooper and his public were fascinated by the Leatherstocking character. He was encouraged to write a series of sequels in which the entire life of the frontier scout was gradually unfolded. The Last of the Mohicans (1826) takes the reader back to the French and Indian wars of Natty’s middle age, when he is at the height of his powers. That work was succeeded by The Prairie (1827) in which, now very old and philosophical, Leatherstocking dies, facing the westering sun he has so long followed.

(The five novels of the series were not written in their narrative order.) Identified from the start with the vanishing wilderness and its natives, Leatherstocking was an unalterably elegiac figure, wifeless and childless, hauntingly loyal to a lost cause. This conception of the character was not fully realized in The Pioneers, however, because Cooper’s main concern with depicting frontier life led him to endow Leatherstocking with some comic traits and make his laments, at times, little more than whines or grumbles. But in these sequels Cooper retreated stylistically from a realistic picture of the frontier in order to portray a more idyllic and romantic wilderness; by doing so he could exploit the parallels between the American Indians and the forlorn Celtic heroes of James Macpherson’s pseudo-epic Ossian , leaving Leatherstocking intact but slightly idealized and making extensive use of Macpherson’s imagery and rhetoric .

Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Cooper intended to bury Leatherstocking in The Prairie, but many years later he resuscitated the character and portrayed his early maturity in The Pathfinder (1840) and his youth in The Deerslayer (1841). These novels, in which Natty becomes the centre of romantic interest for the first time, carry the idealization process further. In The Pathfinder he is explicitly described as an American Adam, while in The Deerslayer he demonstrates his fitness as a warrior-saint by passing a series of moral trials and revealing a keen, though untutored, aesthetic sensibility. The “Leatherstocking” tales are Cooper’s great imperfect masterpiece, but he continued to write many other volumes of fiction and nonfiction. His fourth novel, The Pilot (1823), inaugurated a series of sea novels, which were at once as popular and influential as the “Leatherstocking” tales.

And they were more authentic: such Westerners as General Lewis Cass , governor of Michigan Territory, and Mark Twain might ridicule Cooper’s woodcraft, but old salts like Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad rightly admired and learned from his sea stories, in particular The Red Rover (1827) and The Sea Lions (1849). Never before in prose fiction had the sea become not merely a theatre for, but the principal actor in, moral drama that celebrated man’s courage and skill at the same time that it revealed him humbled by the forces of God’s nature. As developed by Cooper, and later by Melville, the sea novel became a powerful vehicle for spiritual as well as moral exploration. Not satisfied with mere fictional treatment of life at sea, Cooper also wrote a meticulously researched, highly readable History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839). Cultural and political involvement Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Though most renowned as a prolific novelist, he did not simply retire to his study after the success of The Spy.

Between 1822 and 1826 he lived in New York City and participated in its intellectual life, founding the Bread and Cheese Club , which included such members as the poets Fitz-Greene Halleck and William Cullen Bryant , the painter and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse , and the great Federalist judge James Kent . Like Cooper himself, these were men active in both cultural and political affairs. Cooper’s own increasing liberalism was confirmed by a lengthy stay (1826–33) in Europe, where he moved for the education of his son and four daughters. Those years coincided with a period of revolutionary ferment in Europe, and, because of a close friendship that he developed with the old American Revolutionary War hero Lafayette , he was kept well-informed about Europe’s political developments. Through his novels, most notably The Bravo (1831), and other more openly polemical writings, he attacked the corruption and tyranny of oligarchical regimes in Europe. His active championship of the principles of political democracy (though never of social egalitarianism) coincided with a steep decline in his literary popularity in America, which he attributed to a decline in democratic feeling among the reading—i.e.

the propertied—classes to which he himself belonged. Return to America Romanticism When he returned to America, he settled first in New York City and then for the remainder of his life in Cooperstown. In the gentlemanly tradition of Jefferson and Lafayette he attacked the oligarchical party of his day, in this case the Whig Party , which opposed President Andrew Jackson , the exponent of a more egalitarian form of democracy. The Whigs, however, were soon able to turn the tables on Cooper and other leading Jacksonians by employing Jackson’s egalitarian rhetoric against them. Squire Cooper had made himself especially vulnerable to popular feeling when, in 1837, he refused to let local citizens picnic on a family property known as Three Mile Point. This incident led to a whole series of charges of libel, and suits and countersuits by both the Whigs and Cooper. At this time, too, agrarian riots on the estates of his old New York friends shattered his simple Jeffersonian faith in the virtue of the American farmer. All of this conflict and unrest was hard to bear, and harder still because he was writing more and earning less as the years went by.

The public, which had reveled in his early forest and sea romances, was not interested in his acute political treatise , The American Democrat (1838), or even in such political satires as The Monikins (1835) or Home As Found (1838). And though he wrote some of his best romances—particularly the later “Leatherstocking” tales and Satanstoe (1845)—during the last decade of his life, profits from publishing so diminished that he gained little benefit from improved popularity. Though his circumstances were never straitened, he had to go on writing; and some of the later novels, such as Mercedes of Castile (1840) or Jack Tier (1846–48), were mere hackwork. His buoyant political optimism had largely given way to calm Christian faith, though he never lost his troubled concern for the well-being of his country. James Fenimore Cooper · OverDrive: eBooks, audiobooks and videos for libraries Sign up James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was a prolific and popular nineteenth century American writer who wrote historical fiction of frontier and Native American life.

He is best remembered for the Leatherstocking Tales, one of which was The Last of the Mohicans. Sort Central Leatherstocking Central Leatherstocking Central Leatherstocking The Central Leatherstocking region is named after the apparel made famous by the stories of James Fenimore Cooper, who wrote the Leatherstocking Tales. These tales feature a character called Leatherstocking, a genuine woodsman, familiar with the ways of the mountains and a friend to the natives. Major draws to this region come in major league size, as it's the home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and is known as the "Village of Museums." Other attractions that bring visitors to this rustic region are the Howe caverns; a collection of spectacular underground geological formations. Take an underground tour through these scenic caves. If you're not in the mood for taking a trip underground, you can always stop in at Turning Stone Casino for some fun and games, a place popular to many visitors. Information derived from JAMES FENIMORE COOPER Guide book STILL Available - Order Now! JAMES FENIMORE COOPER James Fenimore Cooper, whose writing has evoked both admiration and disdain, is considered to be the first true American novelist.

His most popular work, The Last of the Mohicans, has remained one of the most widely read novels throughout the world and it, along with the other four novels that make up The Leatherstocking Tales, has tremendously impacted the way many view both the American Indians and the frontier period of American history. The romanticized image of the strong, fearless, and ever resourceful frontiersman (i.e. Natty Bumppo), as well as the stoic, wise, and noble "red man" (i.e. Chingachgook) was borne more from Cooper's characterizations than any other source. Born in Burlington, New Jersey on September 15, 1789 as James Cooper, the young boy began life with all the advantages of wealth and social prominence. James was one of thirteen children of Judge William Cooper, an early visionary who was able to obtain great financial success despite his own humble beginnings. The judge settled vast tracts of land in Pennsylvania and New York, became a congressman, actively promoted public service, established an expectedly dynastic financial and political family, and founded Cooperstown, NY, which became the boyhood home of James.

William Cooper tried to instill in his children an understanding of the financial potential which the young republic had, balanced with his philosophy that with wealth came many responsibilities for the good of others (he was notoriously charitable, some would say, excessively generous). It appeared as though the Cooper family, with such a potentially bright future, could expect to leave a prolific and powerful legacy. Fate though, with its often tragic consequences and unexpected derailments, was waiting to strike. Meanwhile, the Cooper children enjoyed a life of leisurely wonder in upstate New York. James and his brothers roamed and explored what was then a frontier village with a freedom that most children today would find enviable. The wilds of the forests and mountains beckoned the boys and aroused their unrestrained curiosity.

The passion for the wilderness which developed in the wandering lads prompted their sister Hannah to write, "They are very wild and show plainly they have been bred in the woods." It was here in the Hudson River region that James became acquainted with the Indians of central New York state, the art of wilderness survival, the game-bearing Hawkeye prototype who, along with his long rifle and canine companions, visited the Cooper home, and the settlers whose wasteful tendencies disturbed the youth who had fallen in love with the natural beauty of the surrounding wilderness. It was here, during his innocence, the future author developed his sentiments regarding the very things that would later serve as central themes of The Last of the Mohicans. Cooper attended Yale from 1803 to 1805, a stay that was cut short by the school's invitation that he leave. It is probable that he would have gone instead to Princeton had his older brother not been expelled in 1802 due to his being the most likely culprit in the burning of Nassau Hall. Mischievous behavior appears to have been a family trait.

Though James is not known to have burned down any buildings at Yale, the school's request for his premature departure was the result of a series of pranks and violent confrontations. Perhaps Hannah was accurate in her description of her wild brothers. Hannah, the pride of the family, who had penned her words in 1798, died two years later of injuries received by falling off a horse. Perhaps this loss, along with the events surrounding the capture and murder of Jane McRae, influenced Cooper's creation of Cora and Alice whom he presents as delicate and vulnerable. (Note: Jane, the fianc�e of a British officer, was captured by Indians in 1778. She was released and handed over to a party of Gen. Burgoyne's Indian scouts, but while being escorted back to Fort Edward, Jane's escort was unexpectedly attacked. The leader of the ambushing Indians pulled Jane from her horse, scalped, and murdered her. Could this be a bit of Magua also?) Nine years later, in 1809, Cooper's father died. The sudden death of the patriarch was devastating and the family soon began to unravel.

During the years 1813 to 1819, Cooper lost four brothers to tragic deaths. Overlapping this period of sorrow was yet more hardship for those who were left. Financial ruin began to run its course in 1817 and continued through 1823, virtually wiping out the once substantial holdings of the Coopers. Their wealth dwindled away as a series of judgments against the estate, along with the apparently poor management by the surviving brothers who in turn acted as executors, all took their toll. Eventually, only James and a sister were left, the sole survivors of a family whose fortune was rapidly transformed into misfortune. The dynastic legacy that once seemed so certain was not to be. The resulting void was painfully felt by James and soon became a dominant theme in his life, one which would permeate his thoughts and later, his novels. Despite the enormity of the successive tragedies, Cooper was spared total ruin through the accidental discovery of his literary talents. This new twist of fate couldn't have come at a better time. As heir to what was left of the family's possessions, Cooper also inherited the huge debt that accompanied it.

Faced with the impossible demands of creditors and having very little income, the gentleman farmer had the good luck of reading a bad book. His dislike of the novel so irritated him that he boasted to his wife that he could do better. Her response was that he should prove it, and consequently, James Cooper, at the age of thirty, unexpectedly embarked upon a successful literary career. (NOTE: FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION ON COOPER'S WRITING OF MOHICANS READ COOPER, CHALLENGES & CAVES , as well as the follow-up post.) James Cooper's first book, Precaution, was a failure. His second, The Spy, was published a year later (1821) and fortunately for James (who not only carried the burden of debt and care of his own family, but had also assumed responsibility for his brothers' widows and children), became an instant success. Published both in the U.S. and Europe, it was the first of a long line of both fiction and non-fiction that brought Cooper fame and respect. Though his books were printed in English, French, and German, were adapted for the stage, and frequently reprinted as new editions, Cooper was unable to escape the strangling debt.

While it is obvious that Cooper enjoyed writing, he labored as much from necessity as he did for pleasure. His prolific output was the result of an almost frenzied pace of book after book, a pace which was taking its toll on Cooper's health. Early in his career, Cooper enjoyed immense popularity at home. His Leatherstocking Tales were especially well liked, each a continuation of the adventures of Natty Bumppo and the American frontier. It was the second book of the series that revealed Cooper's preoccupation with the discontinuation of both a way of life & a family line; the tale being The Last of the Mohicans. 1826, the year of its publication, was when Cooper first used the name Fenimore as a legacy to his mother, whose maiden name he had now assumed. He continued his career as a writer while he served as U.S. Consul at Lyons, France from 1826 to 1833. Upon his return to the U.S., Cooper began writing A Letter to His Countrymen, the first of several works in which Cooper expressed a sharp criticism of American culture (a theme that was already present in his previous works, though more subtly) and his own views towards democracy and wealth.

The book was published in 1834 and immediately unleashed a furor in the press. Cooper's name appeared in newspaper editorials almost daily as a villain who sought to undermine democracy. So bitter were the accusations against him that James Fenimore Cooper soon found himself spending an inordinate amount of time in courthouses defending himself against what he saw as libelous allegations. While many people find fault with Cooper's style, it must be remembered that he and his works were products of their own time. Generally, European authors have held a favorable view of Cooper's talent while Americans have been more critical. ( D.H. Lawrence and Joseph Conrad have held him in high regard, while Mark Twain ridiculed his character development.) However one assesses Cooper's skills, it should at least be recognized that he was brilliant. An avid reader, he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge and a strong desire to share what he knew with his readers. This hunger is revealed at times in the dialogue of his characters as well as in his somewhat excessive usage of footnotes. Cooper spent his later years in Cooperstown, where he continued writing until a few years prior to his death.

Perhaps the return to his boyhood home where he first experienced his love for the wilderness was an attempt to find peace and tranquility in a world that Cooper saw slipping away. While there is much disagreement regarding Cooper's talents, few could fault him for his lamentations for an unspoiled wilderness. James Fenimore Cooper died on September 14, 1851 at his home, one day shy of his 62nd birthday. The first great American novelist, a man who incited & provoked his contemporaries to ponder social issues that are as relevant today as they were 150 years ago, had literally left his mark upon American culture & her literary development.

For samples of LOTM and their corresponding scenes in the 1992 film, use these links: Precaution (1820) A novel of English manners The Spy (1821) A novel about the American Revolution The Pioneers (1823) The first of five novels that make up The Leatherstocking Tales, a tale of the American frontier The Last of the Mohicans (1826) The second novel The Prairie (1827) The third novel The Pathfinder (1840) The fourth novel The Deerslayer (1841) The fifth and final novel of The Leatherstocking Tales all of which feature the frontiersman Natty Bumppo The Pilot (1823) The first of many sea tales The Bravo (1831) The first novel in a trilogy about medieval Europe The Heidenmauer (1832) The second of the trilogy The Headsman (1833) The final novel of the trilogy A Letter to His Countrymen (1834) A social criticism The Monikins (1835) Satire of American life The American Democrat (1838) Satire of American

 life Gleanings in Europe (1837-1838) A four volume description of Cooper's travels in Europe Littlepage Manuscripts (1845-1846) A trilogy of a New York family through several generations; a defense of landed wealth against the industrial based aristocracy that was then just beginning.

The titles follow: Satanstoe (1845) The Chainbearer (1845) The Redskins (1846) There is an element in The Last of the Mohicans that deserves a mention. In developing a romance between Uncas and Cora (Mann's film version contains an Alice/Cora role reversal), Cooper was breaking new ground (literally a literary novel idea!). Never before in American literature did there exist such a relationship. Interracial love stories were rare enough, but Cooper had taken it further. His romance involved a European woman and an American Indian man, most unusual, to say the least. The author may have been treading dangerous waters by including an Indian male/European woman love plot. It was, after all, early 19th century America. So what were the ramifications of his 1826 thriller? Instant success! About The Deerslayer About The Deerslayer Bookmark this page Manage My Reading List The "Leatherstocking Tales," although they are only a small part of Cooper's literary output, are his main claim to recognition as a major American writer.

The five books, however, were not written and published according to the chronological age of the hero, Natty Bumppo. In terms of the hero's age, the romances are as follows: The Deerslayer (1841), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), The Pioneers (1823), and The Prairie (1827). Arranged in that manner, the "Leatherstocking Tales" are also easier to remember because they are in alphabetical order. The nicknames of Natty Bumppo are respectively: Deerslayer, Hawkeye, Pathfinder, Leatherstocking, and simply "The Trapper" or "The Old Man." The period covered ranges from about 1740 to 1804, and Natty Bumppo is seen in stages from his 20s to his 80s. The settings change from Otsego Lake, Lake George, Lake Ontario, and Cooperstown to the territories of Iowa and Missouri.

If the "Leatherstocking Tales" are read in the light of Natty Bumppo's chronology, the five stories present a unified and logical progression of the hero's development. However, the reader who is interested in Cooper's conception of his hero should read the five titles in the order of publication because almost 20 years intervene between the writing of the first and last books. For example, The Deerslayer, chronologically the first introduction of Natty Bumppo, is actually the last "Leatherstocking Tale" published by Cooper. The student sees therefore in The Deerslayer the ideas of the author developed at a late period of his life. Cooper realized this problem about The Deerslayer when he wrote in a "Preface to the Leatherstocking Tales": "Whether these progressive years have had a tendency to lessen the value of the last-named book, by lessening the native fire of its author, or of adding somewhat in the way of improved taste and a more matured judgment, is for others to decide." Others have decided favorably that Cooper, in a "Preface" for The Deerslayer as well as in the "Preface to the Leatherstocking Tales," succeeded in his aims.

Cooper expressed his intentions principally as the creation of the "beau ideal'' or highest possible embodiment of his characters, especially Natty Bumppo. Cooper's desire to present this 11 poetical view of the subject" is, however, tempered by his hope "to preserve the vrai-semblable." In short, he idealizes Natty Bumppo, but he balances this idealization with "traits derived from the prejudices, tastes, and even the weaknesses of his youth." If, as Cooper implies, the depiction of Natty Bumppo only emphasized the good side of his character, the reader would have perhaps rejected the hero as unrealistic, false, and unbelievable. Cooper's portrayal of characters has always been a point of controversy in any analysis of his art. For example, Honore de Balzac, the French novelist of La Comedie Humaine (The Human Comedy) and one of Cooper's friends in Paris, commented: "If Cooper had succeeded in the painting of character to the same extent that he did in the painting of the phenomena of nature, he would have uttered the last word of our art." Cooper is not, however, classified as a realistic author (such as Balzac), but as a romantic writer.

The realistic novelist tries to reproduce life exactly, and the romantic author lends forcefully his own interpretations and impressions to characters. Cooper did not base his creation of Natty Bumppo on a single person known to him; he apparently drew upon various individuals recalled from his youth. Cooper then contributed his theory of "a moral sense" or "a moral point of view" to delineate his hero of the New World. Cooper's insistence upon morality is of course a reflection of the Puritan tradition — and his own forceful ideas. However, his originality lies in the creation of Natty Bumppo as an American epic hero. The epic hero is familiar in early European literature, and Cooper was undoubtedly aware of the English Beowulf, the French Roland, and the Spanish Cid. Romanticism called attention to the medieval heritage, largely scorned and ignored by the eighteenth century. Cooper, then, merged his romantic interests and contemporary readings with his American background. He could not copy and imitate the European models fully, but he could — and consequently did — merge the foreign and the native influences.

Therefore, Natty Bumppo resembles medieval knights and is dubbed by his creator "a knight of the woods." Natty Bumppo's code, explained repeatedly and in detail throughout The Deerslayer, shows many points in common with the chivalric ideals. This transposition of the European epic hero to American soil is one of the accepted explanations for Cooper's popularity, impact, and influence in Europe during the nineteenth century. Natty Bumppo, however, shows his originality by possessing indigenous traits; and these characteristics, peculiar to the New World at this stage of its development, mark Cooper's contribution to American literature. Natty Bumppo is, in certain ways, the child of Rousseau, the French philosopher of the 18th century who preached that civilization is a corrupting element in the growth of man and that nature is good. According to Rousseau, the natural man develops efficaciously in a simple, natural environment.

"The idea of delineating a character that possessed little of civilization but its highest principles as they are exhibited in the uneducated," writes Cooper about his characterization of the hero, "and all of savage life that is not incompatible with these great rules of conduct, is perhaps natural to the situation in which Natty was placed." Although he has been raised in the situation of the Indians, Natty Bumppo has in his soul the highest qualities of civilization and Christianity. He has received these qualities intuitively and lives by these virtues because he knows instinctively that this conduct, or code, is right. Natty Bumppo also distinguishes between the positive and negative aspects of the Indians, whom he basically respects. For instance, Natty is firmly opposed to scalping as a horrible act for a white man, but he defends the Indians who use this technique as an honorable method of warfare. In his reliance upon feelings, intuition, and instinct, Cooper's hero is the romantic ideal who rejects the neo-classical guidelines of reason and rationalism.

Natty Bumppo is a compromise between the two worlds in conflict on the North American continent: the expanding dynamism of the white, European, civilized, Christian race and the primitive Indian races inhabiting vast tracts of land. Cooper constantly refers to the differences between the two races, and his anxiety to achieve some reconciliation between the two peoples is very evident. Natty Bumppo, living and accepting many Indian ways, represents the American hero who endeavors to express his native background to the white men with whom he also feels the bond of blood ties. Cooper defines his purpose in these words: "It appeared to the writer that his hero was a fit subject to represent the better qualities of both conditions, without pushing either to extremes." The Deerslayer was Cooper's favorite of the five romances he shaped around the figure of Natty Bumppo, perhaps because the tale is the last of the "Leatherstocking Tales" and his final, attentive effort to create an American hero. Critics usually have been kind to The Deerslayer since its publication in 1841.

It is true that The Last of the Mohicans always has been the most popular of the "Leatherstocking Tales" because it is at heart a boy's book. Although Cooper's ideas are already in evidence in The Last of the Mohicans and the tale is justifiably acclaimed as a dynamic, suspenseful story, The Deerslayer offers a structurally more sound and logical plot. There is a strong use of the three unities in The Deerslayer, as all the action, concentrated in a few days around Natty Bumppo's "first warpath," takes place in the vicinity of Otsego Lake. Cooperstown and Otsego Lake are, of course, associated closely with James Fenimore Cooper; and he popularized the lake in The Deerslayer more than in any other of his novels. In fact, Otsego Lake not only plays a more important role in this tale than in any of the five "Leatherstocking Tales," but the lake received its nickname of "Glimmerglass" thanks to Cooper's extensive descriptions in The Deerslayer.

Cooper's utilization of Glimmerglass is certainly a good example of Balzac's definition of the American novelist's achievement as "idealizing the magnificent scenery of America." In addition, Cooper made use of the Glimmerglass as a structural and thematic element in The Deerslayer, besides the beautiful descriptions of the lake he knew so well throughout his life. Contemporary criticism, then, has accorded more weight to The Deerslayer because this tale belongs also to Cooper's last period when his social, political, and personal philosophies were most decided. Indeed, the novels written after his return to America in 1833 have been receiving more critical attention in recent years. Robert E.

Spiller, for instance, has stated that Cooper at some future time may be best remembered "for his pioneering in the realistic novel of social purpose." Spiller, an important critic of Cooper, insists upon the noteworthy role of The Deerslayer: "For Natty as Deerslayer has now become a symbol of the human values toward which Cooper had been reaching, and his story the most 'poetic' of the Leather-Stocking Tales, in which romance and moral import combine to create what many critics hold to be Cooper at his best." The Deerslayer, then, cannot be read as solely an adventure story but as a contribution toward the understanding of America by the first American novelist accorded recognition in Europe. It is of course the reader's responsibility — and pleasure — to observe how Cooper fashioned his storytelling powers and his philosophy into a unified novel. 3/13: Leather Stocking Tales - The Deerslayer - YouTube 3/13: Leather Stocking Tales - The Deerslayer Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now.

Please try again later. Published on Nov 7, 2014 The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and "Hawkeye". Natty Bumppo is the protagonist of the series. Although he is the child of white parents, he grew up with Native Americans, becoming a near-fearless warrior skilled in many weapons, one of which is the long rifle. He respects his forest home and all its inhabitants, hunting only what he needs to survive. When it comes time to fire his trusty flintlock, he lives by the rule that one must shoot only once to bring down a target. He and his Mohican "brother" Chingachgook champion goodness by trying to stop the incessant conflict between the Mohicans and the Hurons.

He is known as "Deerslayer" in The Deerslayer, "Hawkeye" and "La Longue Carabine" in The Last of the Mohicans, "Pathfinder" in The Pathfinder, "Leatherstocking" in The Pioneers, and "the trapper" in The Prairie. The novels recount significant events in Natty Bumppo's life from 1740-1806. Critic Georg Lukacs identified Bumppo as similar to the middling characters of Sir Walter Scott, who, because they don't represent the extremes of society, can act as tools for social and cultural examination of historical events, without portraying the history itself. Chingachgook is a Mohican chief and companion of Bumppo. Chingachgook married Wah-ta-Wah, who bore him a son Uncas, but she died young. Uncas, "last of the Mohicans," grew to manhood but was killed in a battle with renegade Magua.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. He lived most of his life in Cooperstown, New York, which was established by his father William. Cooper was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church and in his later years contributed generously to it.He attended Yale University for three years, where he was a member of the Linonian Society, but was expelled for misbehavior. Before embarking on his career as a writer he served in the U.S. Navy as a Midshipman which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Among naval historians Cooper's works on the early U.S. Navy have been well received, but they were sometimes criticized by his contemporaries. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, often regarded as his masterpiece.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Complete Leatherstocking Tales: All 5 Books eBook by James Fenimore Cooper - 9781518309083 | Kobo Show more Show less Many are unfamiliar with James Fenimore Cooper, even though every American comes across his work in the class or on TV. Today he is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Cooper’s most famous novel is The Last of the Mohicans, which was one of the novels comprising The Leatherstocking Tales and was later made into a popular movie. Buy the eBook

Question: Who wrote 'The Leatherstocking Stories'?
Answer: JAMES FENIMORE COOPER